Some of our young people are half way through their degrees (2019/20 intake): lockdowns on repeat, light at the end of the tunnel with vaccinations (?) and the legacy of COVID-19

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose is all I can say!

No mention of universities in the announcements today, or have I missed it?

I found this:

For those Higher Education students that do not need to take part in practical teaching, and do not require access to specialist facilities or equipment as part of their studies, the Government will review, by the end of the Easter holidays, the options for timing of the return of these students. This will take account of the latest data and will then be a key part of the wider roadmap steps. Students and institutions will be given a week’s notice ahead of any reopening. The Government recognises the difficulties and disruption that this may cause for many students and their families where they remain unable to return to Higher Education settings, but it is necessary to limit the number of students who return to university at this stage to minimise travel and manage the risk of transmission. The Government has made available an additional £70 million of hardship funding this financial year, which universities can use to support students impacted by COVID-19.

@Ragwort

Sorry, haven't been on this thread for a while - nothing much to say .

My DS is back at NTU, seems to be reasonably well motivated and 'attending' all his lectures & seminars on line. He is also meant to be doing a placement next year but struggling to find anything ... we are suggesting he just takes a year off anyway and hopefully can at least do some volunteering or unpaid internship ... it's such a tough decision. He's applied and got a place with Camp America for a few weeks over the Summer .... but who know if that will go ahead??

I think camps will go ahead - they ran some here in Maine last year and they went well.

I don't know if the government will reopen visas for students coming into the country to work for the summer. DH's company hires a lot of them, and they are not currently planning to hire any for this summer because the visa situation is so up in the air. They were unable to hire any last year.

@simbobs

How do you isolate the abovementioned professions as a cohort for vaccination priority purposes? It is not like the nhs knows what you do for a living.

@Ragwort it seems that many of our DC are in the same boat, but I would rather that my DS finished his degree and then took time out, if he wanted to. Otherwise I think it will be much harder to get back into studying. Nice idea about Camp America, though.

The answer is self-declaration. It's what's happening now with the online booking system - you tick a box to say you're working in healthcare and the system lets you book a slot. They're not checking your NHS id at the vaccination centre.

Same with hotel bookings - most of the main hotel websites just want you to tick a box saying you're staying for "allowed" reasons in the booking pages - again, no checks.

phew - after a slightly wobbly first year (which DS insists he wasn’t worried about because it ‘didn’t count’ and he ‘didn’t try’) he really seems to have settled into his second year. Maybe the course suited him more and/or having a bit more choice who he shared with has helped? He certainly seems more confident - although still a man of few words :)

Did well in his first ‘real’ exams too, scraped a first equivalent. I’m hoping he’ll build on that momentum.

Unfortunately he lost out on the house they were going for - big 6-person house, so back to the drawing board there.

Hi All!
I haven’t been on this thread in about a year. It was all too depressing to read about students being sent home from university, online lectures etc etc. I really do feel that university students have been an afterthought this whole time. I feel for them all.
Good to see some familiar names still here and to hear about what your young people are doing. It continues to be a tough time for all.
My DS is at Nottingham University. He’s living there with his housemates and they are staying in the same house next year - makes it easier! Exam results from January exams pending ...

Has anyone else had a request from Student Finance for evidence of income for past years? DH had one yesterday, and I today for evidence of income fom 2018/19. Obviously everything was correctly submitted at the time and the DC received the appropriate maintenance loan. I am assuming that this is just a spot check, and I know it won't change anything, but imagine if they realised that they had paid them too much???

Welcome back @blametheparents. Good luck to your DS with his results. Sure mine must be expecting some too.

That's good news for your DS @MrKlaw. Sometimes it takes young people time to get into their stride. Once they get to choose more of their own modules, it should make a difference with their level of engagement, I would have thought!

No, nothing here from Student Finance @simbobs but you could be right that they do spot checks, unless there's been a change in the loand your DS has received?

There has been no change to the loan that either DC has received, and they seem to be checking the previous year, not the current one. I thought it very strange, especially as it seemed that only DH had had the request. Mine came through 24hrs later. I know that we have been scrupulously honest in our dealings, so have nothing to hide - only obscure docs to find...

Total PITA @simbobs. You have my sympathy.

AFAIK we haven’t heard anything from SF.

DS and his mates have finally got their fingers out to look for a house, only to find - unsurprisingly - that they have all gone. So they seem to have found a new build which will be completed by October.....

Ds’ year group for his subject have been told to go back for practicals week commencing 8th March & as they need to be tested before going on campus we are taking him back this weekend so hopefully he can have the tests next week.

@Decorhate - where have you got to take him back to?

I am unclear whether there are arrangements for students to return home for Easter. DS has been back in Notts since Xmas and it would be nice to know about Easter arrangements.
I really do feel that students have been a bit of an afterthought this entire time.

That's progress @Decorhate.

He’s at Bath. Tbh he was thinking of going back this weekend anyway - just good to know we won’t be breaking the rules! Both mine are hopeful of coming back for Easter.

Oh dear . DS arrived home today ! I think lockdown starting to tell in his house .. he hates conflict and tempers are fraying a bit with 7 of them cooped up .. says he needs a break .. is now saying he is going to get a studio for one for third year ! .. so he can see friends but then go home and get his head into work . Not sure I'm keen on that idea but he's 21 in September so his decision

Alicatz66 I'm currently visiting DD at university, and it is much the same here. It feels so cooped up and claustrophobic. DD actually is really getting on well with her roommate, thank goodness, but the whole situation is so tough. We're not in lockdown here, but the students aren't allowed to mix indoors with other students, and it's really really cold outside.

@ZZTopGuitarSolo .. yes, it's a strange situation.. his housemates are big clubbers and drinkers but DS is more into going to the gym and stuff .. with everyone stuck in and not out and about frustrations are showing ... all his work is online anyway so maybe a few weeks away will do him good

I was wondering about easter too. Are they just assuming that most students are home? They aren't. I know very few people whose children haven't gone back (maybe first years are different if they are in halls). At Christmas they were offering them all 2 tests so that they didn't go off spreading it around the country, but noting has been said this time. DS is in Wales which add another layer of complexity!

They clearly haven't got their finger on the pulse have they regarding what students are doing and where they are @Cookerhood? You might find that Easter doesn't have the same pull on young people to return home as Christmas though? Also, if rules do start to relax, they may be wanting to see more of their friends rather than their families.

I think DD might want to come home for Easter as she went back in January. I think it depends on whether her housemates stay or go home.

True @NewModelArmyMayhem18. Although DS hasn't really seen his old school friends since the summer he left school and would like to see them. I imagine it will depend what his housemates do. They should give them some guidance though.

I think I've persuaded DS to come home - but he says only for a week .

I think it is up to us to decide whether we are happy to have our DC home, not any government body. Surely the most vulnerable adults will have been afforded some degree of protection from vaccination by then? Only in exeptional cases would having DC home pose a significant risk. Most universities seem to be giving students access to testing as they did pre Christmas, so hopefully the DC will avail themselves of this. I don't know whether both of mine will come but it wouldn't occur to me to stop them. I doubt that I will have been vaccinated by then (or perhaps a recent 1st jab)but DH has already had his first one.

No, I would leave it to my DS to do what he wants to do, but if they are offering lateral flow again I would think it would be a good idea. My point is that there doesn't seem to be any guidance and the main danger for the next few months is the virus running free in the young and mutating like mad, leading to another wave of virus and more lockdowns in the autumn. I may seem like a doom & gloom merchant - I'm really not, I'm quite pragmatic about the whole thing, but this is a genuine risk for later in the year - vaccinating the vulnerable will help with hospitalisations, deaths etc, but won't stop the young (the "mixers" in society) from catching it, and then the virus will do what viruses do. We don't want our lot affected by university lockdowns again next autumn.